| Date
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Event
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Ref.
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| January 1
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Comedian Soupy Sales, who hosted the "Lunch With Soupy Sales" children's program on New York City's WNEW-TV, encourages his young viewers to send him money ("those funny little green pieces of paper with pictures of U.S. presidents") from their parents' pants and pocketbooks and send them to him, and in return he would "send you a postcard from Puerto Rico!" Days later, when he actually got response, he declared that he was joking and that cash contributions would be donated to charity. WNEW suspended Sales for two weeks over the incident.
|
[1][2]
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| January 2
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The TVS Television Network begins broadcasting weekly coverage of men's basketball games of the NCAA's Southeastern Conference as part of a live regional syndication package for the first time throughout much of the Southeastern United States, including Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The TVS broadcasts of SEC Basketball would last until after the 1983 SEC Tournament, when Sports Productions, Incorporated took over the broadcasts in January 1984. The SEC basketball package would continue to be broadcast through Lorimar Television, Jefferson Pilot Sports, Lincoln Financial Media, and Raycom Sports until after the 2009 SEC Tournament semifinals.
|
[3][4]
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| February 22
|
A new, videotaped production of the 1957 special, Cinderella, by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, airs on CBS with young Lesley Ann Warren (in the title role) starring alongside Ginger Rogers, Walter Pidgeon, and Celeste Holm.
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| June 4
|
The launch of the Gemini 4 space mission is broadcast in color by NBC. All three networks would carry the launch of Gemini 5 in color that August, followed by all subsequent manned space launches.
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| September 10
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CBS airs the first-ever National Geographic television special. The special focused on a 1963 U.S. expedition to Mount Everest.
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| September 12
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NBC becomes the main broadcast partner for the American Football League, with most games being broadcast in color. AFL games were previously broadcast on ABC for the league's first five seasons.
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| September 13
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Today on NBC becomes the first morning news program to telecast in color.
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| October 4
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Pope Paul VI's visit to New York receives saturation television coverage on all three American networks. The Papal Mass at Yankee Stadium is broadcast in color.
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| November 15
|
The Huntley-Brinkley Report on NBC becomes the first network evening newscast to be broadcast in color on a nightly basis.
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| November 25
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The CBS Thanksgiving Day telecast of an NFL game between the Baltimore Colts and the Detroit Lions is the first color telecast of a regular season game.
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| December 9
|
The Peanuts special, A Charlie Brown Christmas, is broadcast for the first time ever on CBS. The network would air the special on an annual basis until ABC picked up the rights in 2002.
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| December 21
|
CBS airs the New York City Ballet's televised production of The Nutcracker.
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